What our clients say

Sarah & Christian O’Connell, Richmond, London

As parents of a 16 month old baby girl who woke several times in the night and then finally for the day at 5am, we were utterly desperate to find a solution to our daughter’s sleep issues. We were however, certain that we did not want to go down the controlled crying route – first because it seemed like total hell for all parties but also because I was someone whose answer to everything is to read everything available on a given subject and that had led me to the very definite conclusion that controlled crying was not the emotionally safe and easy answer that every health visitor made it out to be. The problem however was the lack of alternatives – every other sleep “clinic” seemed to have this method as its main stay option. I wanted the Baby Whisperer not the Nanny from Hell and into this confusion I am glad to say finally walked Chireal from Naturally Nurturing. Chireal offered us a family centred approach to our problems and worked within the boundaries we wanted. She fully understood our fears about controlled crying and does not advocate this method. She is a sleep professional with enormous integrity and I am happy to say that after lots of practical advice and support our daughter now sleeps though the night and wakes around 6 to 6.30 which to my mind is an acceptable time to wake up as at least the birds have woken up by then! I cannot recommend her enough.

Fiona Lambie, Leeds, England

I honestly don’t know what I would have done if it hadn’t been for the Baby Sleep Clinic. We had endured over a year and a half of sleep interrupted nights and felt as though we’d tried every suggestion in every book, in every combination….and nothing worked. I was at the end of my tether. The Baby Sleep Clinic was different from the start – I really felt they knew what I was going through and how I felt. The steps Chireal suggested were simple and easy, and made the biggest difference. Without Chireal’s help, I know that we wouldn’t be where we are today – a happy family with a baby whose sleep pattern fits into our lives.

Shelly Wesson, Portsmouth, England

Thanks again for all your help over the last few weeks! Before starting the sleep programme Sophie was waking several times throughout the night and always ended up in the bed with me, 2 weeks into the programme Sophie was sleeping through the night in her own bed. The weekly telephone consultations with you were so helpful and it was good to know we could call at anytime if we needed your support. Thanks to you I’m finally able to enjoy playing with my daughter during the day without feeling exhausted and I feel human again!

Sally Chew, Southampton, England

“Everything here is going great. Recently Holly has been going all the way through from about 8ish till 7.45am which is absolutely amazing! For the last three nights she’s refused her dream feed so I’ve got a feeling she wants to drop it. She’s got a horrible cold so last night she was up at 2.30am for some medicine and then we got her back to sleep in her cot without any problems. Can’t believe I was up once or twice a night EVERY night only a month or so ago. When we went on holiday it was easy to settle her in a new place and same again when we got back. So, in short her sleep has improved amazingly. We are very grateful and thank you so much!”

Vivienne, Markham, Canada

“Before we received telephone coaching from Naturally Nurturing, our four-year-old daughter had spent the second half of every night on a mattress by our bedside for about a year and a half. We felt there was absolutely nothing we could do but wait for her to grow out of it. Not so! Thanks to Naturally Nurturing’s gentle but effective approach, she now sleeps through every night in her own room. If we’ve learned one thing from this experience it’s “never say never!”

Ron, South Croydon, Surrey

“Naturally Nurturing really helped us achieve a good night’s sleep. Extremely professional and friendly service”

Victoria, Sanderstead, Surrey

“If only we had heard of this clinic months ago, we would definitely recommend using Naturally Nurturing”

Andrea, Couldson, Surrey

“Chireal has a very positive attitude, the service was personal and the programmes are devised to suit the indivdual and not generalised. We would definitely recommend Naturally Nurturing. We are a lot less stressed about bedtime and our son is often less irritable in the day due to more sleep at night time”

Martha, Shirley, Surrey

“The fact that you provided home visits is a fantastic idea as this gives you insight into how we approach bedtime with our son. All the advice and support we received helped us understand parenting and feel more positive about our role”

Steve, Surrey, England

“ Naturally Nurturing is a completely different approach to controlled crying which worked for us, now our son sleeps through the night and we are happier and feel more energetic and have a better relationship”

Victoria, Sanderstead, Surrey

“We had not had much success with the other methods, Chireal made us feel that we had the strength to deal with the situation. Naturally Nurturing gave us confidence to manage future parenting situations”

Martha, Shirley, Surrey

“I definitely would recommend Naturally Nurturing to friends and family because the advice you give is first class and most of it works. Thank you Chireal for all your support and help. You are such a natural at what you do an inspiration to watch and learn from”

Sandra, Southampton, England

“We are so grateful that you listened to us and understood what needed to be done, thank you so much.”

Cari, Clapham, South London

“As I type this Conor is asleep! Many thanks. I am recommending you left, right and centre as they say!”

Derek, Barking, East London

“We felt so motivated and confident after speaking with you….our children now listen to us and sleep better.”

Hazel, Paris, France

“Chireal is really nice to talk to over the phone; we talked for over 30 minutes before I made my choice. Chireal helped me understand my little girl’s behaviour and gave good practical advice. My daughter is now sleeping at night and things are much, much better”

Case Studies

Tony’s Story

Tony was not settling at night and would stay up with mum and dad until they went to bed usually around 10.30 -11 pm at night. They informed us that it could take up to 30-45 minutes to get him to sleep and they would have to lie with him so he could play with their ears and suck his dummy. The parents would stay with Tony until he fell asleep. Tony would then wake up two hours later and climb into bed with mum and dad and there he would stay until the morning. Understandably Tony’s parents got little to no sleep, any sleep they did managed to get was unsettled due to there being three in a bed. We told them that we believed that our sleep & behaviour clinic could help them solve their family’s problem. An initial assessment (pregnancy, birth, background & sleep diary) and observation of the home environment was carried out and several important elements that may have contributed to Tony’s sleep problem where uncovered. Tony had free run of the ground floor of his home. His toys were around the room with out a storage box, and Tony was free to play with them whenever he wished, usually at around his bedtime. This may have caused over stimulation as well as contributing to the issue of bedtime avoidance. In Tony’s bedroom there where several distracting objects, again toys out on display, an activity lava lamp of many colours and a brightly coloured animation bed sheet. We explained to the parents that these objects in his room allowed Tony to become over stimulated subsequently he was unable to focus on relaxing and going to sleep. The parents were advised on how to use specific tools in which to teach Tony to sleep through the night in his own room without them having to lie down with his parents. We furnished Tony’s parents with a sleep programme and showed them practical tools in which to create and enhance a calm and relaxing environment at bed time. After 2 ½ weeks Tony is sleeping in his room at night and goes t o bed from 8pm until 6.30am

Mary’s Story

Mary’s sleep problem had affected the family severely as her mother was extremely exhausted and found it difficult to function effectively at work, Mary’s Dad, who worked nights would often have to stay awake downstairs as he did not want to disturb Mary and her mother. Mary (16months) would have no problems settling at night but would wake crying after only an hour’s sleep. Her parents would tend to her and help her back to sleep; however Mary would wake often 10 times through the night. Mary’s parents would have to then resort to taking her to bed with them or bring her down in to the front room, where Mary would sleep perfectly. After consultation at their home and meeting with Mary Naturally Nurturing where able to assess that Mary needed to hold her parents hand until she feel asleep, when she drifted into light sleep she would become aware that her parents where no longer holding her hand and she would become distressed and start to cry. We discussed ways in which we could enable Mary to sleep independently with out the aid of the “prop”. However it was important that whilst Mary was learning to sleep without holding her parents hand she did not feel as though her parents were rejecting her, or withholding their hand as a punishment. We worked with Mary and her parents showing then how to solve Mary’s sleep habits and Mary now sleeps in her own room from 7.30 pm until 5.30 am her normal waking time.

Billy’s story

Billy’s early mornings impacted on the family as Billy’s mum had recently had a new addition to the family a baby sister for Billy. Billy’s mum was concerned that Billy’s sleeping habit may disrupt her new baby’s natural sleeping pattern. Billy’s parents contacted us as they wanted help trying to restructure Billy’s sleeping times so that he was able to sleep until 6am. After assessment and consultant in the families home, it was discovered that Billy’s parents would often play with Billy when he awoke at 5am, this in turn appeared to be a reward for Billy, who may have been feeling displaced within the family on the arrival of his baby sister, he may have believed that waking up at 5am was a good opportunity to spend quality time with his parents. In addition, the sleep diary revealed that Billy would sleep for 2 hours at noon. Naturally nurturing sleep and behaviour clinic worked with the family to restructure Bill’s sleeping pattern, after 3 weeks Billy is sleeping an hour after lunch and sleeps from 8pm until 6 – 6.30 am

Simon’s Story

Simon’s mother found it very difficult to cope with Simon’s cries of distress and felt that she wanted to try an alternative method. Simon (18 months) would have trouble settling at night, he would often come downstairs to play after being put to bed, and then watched television in his room, until he feel asleep. Simon would then wake during the night and enter his parent’s room where he spent the rest of the night. Simon’s parents wanted Simon to be able to sleep in his own room but felt that they did not know how stop him coming into their room. They felt the main problem was that they would not notice until the morning when they awoke to find him sleeping with them. After consultation it was discovered that the family had recently got back together after a trial separation, and Simon had been extremely anxious about being separated from his parents at any time of the day. Our sleep and behaviour clinic worked with the parents and Simon to being developing Simon’s trust, whilst reassuring the whole family. After devising a behavioural and sleep programme for Simon and his parents to follow and providing Simon parents with practical tools to support their parenting style Simon began to feel more confident about sleeping in his room through out the night. He was then able to come into his parent room in the morning for a cuddle before they got up for work.

Get in touch

To learn more about how the Baby Sleep Clinic can help you establish healthy sleep habits that suit your family’s lifestyle, contact us or call us: